Vent construction



July 21, 1970 'R'. R. HODGES 3,521,547

VENT CONSTRUCTION Filed March 4, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet l FIGZ 1' IV V5 IV70 2 F44 PH F. #017 55 July 21,1970 R. R. HODGES 3,521,547

VENT CONSTRUCTION Filed March 4, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 [Amen r01?! Pu Eflazaas United States Patent Office 3,521,547 Patented July 21, 19703,521,547 VENT CONSTRUCTION Ralph R. Hodges, Belleville, Ill., assignorto Empire Stove Company, Belleville, Ill., a corporation of IllinoisFiled Mar. 4, 1969, Ser. No. 804,151 Int. Cl. F24f 13/00 U.S. CI. 983211 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A vent construction including apair of flanges surrounding the ends of an opening in a wall and beingheld to one another and to the wall by connecting straps. One of theflanges can be passed through the other flange, as well as through theopening, so that both flanges can be installed from the same side of thewall. A vent housing having end baffles passes through the flanges andopening from the interior of the building, and its outer surface isengaged by seals on one of the flanges.

This invention relates in general to vents and more particularly tovents for walls and similar closure-forming structures.

Many heating devices for buildings derive their combustion air from andexhaust the products of combustion through a single vent which isgenerally located in a wall adjacent to the heating device. This isparticularly true of small auxiliary heaters used to supply additionalheat to basement rooms, enclosed porches, and the like. Heretofore, theapplication of such auxiliary heaters has been severely limited byreason of the fact that portions of the wall vents must be installedfrom the exterior of the building. As a practical matter, this confinesthe use of such vents, as well as the heaters associated with them, tobasement and first floor rooms.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide awall vent which can be completely installed from the interior of abuilding. Another object is to provide a vent which can be installed inwalls of varying thickness and composition. An additional object is toprovide a wall vent which will not burn one who inadvertently brushesagainst it. A further object is to provide a wall vent which preventsice from accumulating on it and will, therefore, not clog attemperatures below freezing. Still another object is to provide a wallvent which is simple and rugged in construction, economical tomanufacture, and easy to install.

These and other objects and advantages will become apparent hereinafter.

The present invention is embodied in a vent construction including aseal connectable with a wall at an opening in the wall and a venthousing having end baflles. The baffles and a portion of the housingpass through the seal and the seal engages the outer surface of thehousing.

The invention also consists in parts and in the arrangements andcombinations of parts hereinafter described and claimed. In theaccompanying drawings which form part of the specification and whereinlike numerals and letters refer to like parts wherever they occur:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partially broken away and in section, of awall vent installed in a wall and connected to a heater;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are sectional views taken along lines 3-3 and 4-4,respectively, of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing the various components ofthe wall vent as they are installed in a wall.

Referring in detail to the drawings, 2 designates a Wall ventconstruction for venting a heater 4 installed on or adjacent to a wall 6having a rectangular opening or hole 8 formed therein, through which amajor portion of the vent construction 2 extends. The heater 4 isconventional and includes a combustion chamber 10 having a fresh airinlet 12 and a flue gas outlet 14, the former surrounding the latter asa safety precaution. Thus, the heater 4 is of the so-called sealedcombustion chamber variety. The particular construction of the 'wall 6is not important, wood being shown merely for convenience ofillustration, and similarly its thickness is not critical.

The vent 2 includes an exterior wall flange 20 which is of rectangularshape and overlies the outer surface of the wall 6 as well as theoutwardly presented rectangular margin of the hole 8. In particular, thewall flange 20 includes an inwardly turned peripheral lip 22 whichendwise engages the outer surface of the wall 6 in surrounding relationto the hole 8. The inner margin of the flange 20 is defined by arearwardly extending rim 24 which is disposed inwardly from the outermargin of the hole 8 and projects rearwardly into the hole 8 for a shortdistance. The rim 24 has forwardly turned lips 26 and con--, nectingportions 28 formed integral with the lips 26 and! presentedsubstantially at right angles with respect thereto. The rim 24 carries aseal 30 formed from an elastomeric material and having a forwardlyprojecting sealing lip 32 as well as an elongated groove 34 whichreceives the lips 26 and the adjacent segments of the connectingportions 28 on the rim 24 for securement of the seal 30 thereto as bestseen in FIG. 2. The connecting portions 28 along the upper and lowersides of the flange 20 are provided with elongated aperture 36 (FIG. 4).

Similarly, disposed against the inner surface of the wall 6 is aninterior wall flange 40 including an inner rim 42 which projectsforwardly into the hole 8 and is provided with elongated apertures 44located in alignment with the apertures 36 in the rim 24 of the exteriorflange 20. The opening in the rim 42 is large enough to receive theflange 20 when the latter is turned lengthwise and diagonally withrespect to the flange 40 (FIG. 5). In other words, when the outer flange20 is presented perpendicularly with respect to the inner flange 40, thediagonal dimension of the rim 42 will be larger than the transversedimension of the entire flange 20. At its corners the flange 40 isprovided with apertures 45 for reception of nails or screws for holdingit against the interior surface of the wall 6.

The flanges 20 and 40 are drawn toward one another and are thereby heldsecurely against the opposite surfaces of the wall 6 by means ofconnecting straps 46 which pass through the apertures 36 and 44. Eachstrap 46 at its forward end is provided with a small loop 48 which ispermanently fastened to the forward face of the rim 24 on the wallflange 20, while its opposite end extends through the aligned aperture44 in the flange 40-, beyond which it is looped inwardly and forwardlyacross the inner margin of the rim 42.

The wall vent construction 2 further includes a vent housing 50 whichprojects through the hole 8 and it, in turn, includes an outwardlypresented rectangular air inlet duct 52, having a smooth anduninterrupted outer surface which is engaged by the lips 32 of the seal30. At their outer ends the top and side walls of the air inlet ductturn inwardly at right angles and then obliquely outwardly in theformation of louvers 53 and attached to the louvers 53 are supportinglegs 54 to which inner and outer baflles 56 and 58, respectively, areattached. The vertical and horizontal dimensions of the baflles 56 and58 are no greater than the corresponding dimensions of the intake duct52. Each baffle 56 and 58 at its periphery is provided with an obliqueforwardly turned louver 60, and in the case of the inner bafile, thesupport legs 54 are attached thereto at the louvers 60. The outer baflle58 consists of a pair of spaced parallel plates 62, the innermost beingprovided with the louver 60 which engages to the outermost plate 62 inclose proximity to its peripheral margin. The legs 54 attach to theplanar portions of the plates 62 immediately inwardly from the cornersof the louvers 60. The inner baflie 56 further carries a flue box 64which opens outwardly toward the baffle 58 through a rectangularaperture 65 therein. At its rear end the flue boX 64 is fitted with acircular nose portion 66 which projects into an outlet duct or tube 68contained within the intake duct 52. At their rear ends the intake duct52 and the outlet duct 68 connect respectively with the inlet 12 andoutlet 14 on the combination chamber 10 of the heater 4. While theconnection between the inlet 12 and inlet tube 52 on one hand, and theoutlet 14 and outlet tube 68 on the other, as illustrated, are directconnections, it should be understood that connecting pipes and elbowscan be interposed between them, in which case the wall vent 2 could belocated considerably higher in the wall 6 than the heater 4.

The extreme rear end of the intake duct 52 projects through a finishingcover 70 which conceals the interior flange 40.

To install the wall vent 2, the rectangular hole 8 is first cut into thewall 6 at the desired location, and it should be slightly larger thanthe rims 24 and 42 on the flanges 20 and 40, respectively. Thereafterthe rearwardly presented face of the exterior wall flange 20 between thelip 22 and the rim 24 is coated with a caulking compound and the entirewall flange 20 together with its attached straps 46 are passedlengthwise through the hole 8 in the wall 6. To facilitate the passageof the flange 20 through the hole 8, its straps 46 may be curledinwardly. Once the exterior wall flange 20 is beyond the exteriorsurface of the wall 6 it is turned to its correct position in which therib 24 projects rearwardly, and the entire flange 20 is then broughtagainst the exterior face of the wall 6 in surrounding relation to theouter margin of the hole 8 (FIG. In this position the rim 24 willproject into the hole 8 and position the flange 20 on the wall 6 whilethe caulking will flow against the exterior surface of the wall 6,forming a seal between it and the flange 20.

The connecting straps 46 are then straightened and inserted through theapertures 44 in the rim 42 of the interior wall flange 40 which isoriented such that its rim 42 will project forwardly into the hole 8when it is brought against the inside surface of the wall 6. In this waythe rim 42 serves to correctly position the flange 40 with respect tothe hole 8. With both flanges 20 and 40 pressed against opposite facesat the wall 6, the straps 46 are drawn taut and then bent inwardly andforwardly around the rim 42 of the flange 40 so as to prevent withdrawalof the flanges 20 and 40 from the wall 6.

Once the flanges 20 and 40 are installed, the vent housing 50 is passedthrough the hole 8 and in so doing the seal lips 32 of the seal 30 willpass over the bafiles 56 and 58 and into engagement with the outwardlypresented surface on the air inlet duct 52, forming a weather-tight sealtherewith. The vent housing 50 can be shifted forwardly or rearwardlywith respect to the hole 8 for proper positioning without impairing theseal 30. Thus, the wall vent 2 is suitable for use with walls of varyingthickness. After the housing 50 is positioned, a finishing cover 70 isfitted over the rear end of the inlet duct 52, and the inlet 12 andoutlet 14 of the combustion chamber on the heater 4 are connected withthe air inlet tube 52 and the outlet tube 68, respectively, in theconventional man ner.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that the vent 2 can be installedentirely from the interior of the building. It is, therefore, suitablefor use with multi-story structures,

and use of the heater 4 is, accordingly, not confined to basement orfirst floor installations. Since the seals engage the intake duct 52anywhere along its length, the vent construction 2 can be installed inwalls of various thickness without cutting off portions of it or makingany other adjustments.

In operation, the flame within the combustion chamber 10 induces a draftthrough the chamber 10 as well as through the housing 50 of the wallvent 2. In particular, fresh combustion air is drawn into the intakeduct 52 between the louvers 60 on the inner baflle and the louvers 53 onthe end of the intake duct 52. The cool combustion air flows throughthat portion of the intake duct 52 not occupied by the outlet flue box64 and the outlet tube 68 into the inlet 12 of the combustion chamber10. The hot flue gases discharged from the outlet 14 of the combustionchamber 10 enter the outlet tube 65, from which they are discharged intothe flue box 64. The flue box is, in turn, vented between the louvers 60on the inner and outer baflles 56 and 58. These flue gases strike theinnermost surface of the parallel plate 62 on the outer baffle 58 andmaintain that plate at a relatively high temperature. Accordingly, snowor rain deposited upon that plate 62 will not freeze and clog theopenings between the two adjacent louvers 60. The outermost surface ofthe plate 62, however, being spaced from the inner heated plate 60, willremain relatively cool and, therefore, will not burn one whoinadvertently brushes against it.

The vent construction 2 can also be installed in roofs and is,therefore, not limited exclusively to walls.

This invention is intended to cover all changes and modifications of theexample of the invention herein chosen for purposes of the disclosurewhich do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

What is claimed is:

1. A vent construction for installation in an opening formed in a wallor similar closure forming structure, said vent construction comprisinga vent housing in the opening, a seal on the wall and engaging the outersurface of the vent housing, and baflles on the end of the vent housing,the baflles 'being substantially no larger than that portion of the venthousing engaged !by the seal, whereby the baflles will pass through theseal as the vent housing is advanced through the opening.

2. A vent construction according to claim 1 wherein the seal is carriedby a rigid first flange secured against one face of the wall insurrounding relation to the open-ing.

3. A vent construction according to claim 2 wherein the first flange isdetachable from the vent housing and can be passed through the openingin the Wall.

4. A vent construction according to claim 2 and further characterized bya rigid second flange against the opposite face of the opening insurrounding relation to the opening and being sized to receive the venthousing, and means interconnecting the flanges through the opening,whereby neither flange can be withdrawn from the wall. 5. A ventconstruction according to claim 4 wherein the flanges and the venthousing are rectangular, and wherein the first flange when orientedperpendicular to the second flange can be passed through the secondflange.

6. A vent construction according to claim 4 wherein the flanges areprovided with aligned apertures, wherein the means connecting theflanges comprises at least one connecting strap having a preformedenlarged portion at one end which is larger than the apertures, whereinthe opposite end of the connecting strap is free, and wherein theconnecting strap is passed through both apertures until the enlargedportion engages one of the flanges whereupon the opposite end of thestrap is bent around the outer flange and into the opening so as topreclude withdrawal of the flanges from the wall.

7. A vent construction according to claim 4 wherein the flanges areprovided with rims which project into the opening and prevent theflanges from unrestrained sliding on the surfaces of the wall, andwherein the means interconnecting the flanges engages the flanges attheir rims.

8. 'A vent construction according to claim 1 wherein at least a portionof the outer surface of the vent housing is smooth and uninterruptedfrom the baffles to beyond the seal so that the seal will sealingwiseengage the vent housing anywhere along its smooth and uninterruptedsurface, whereby the vent housing may be shifted to and fro with respectto the wall and still be in engagement with the seals.

9. A vent construction according to claim 8 wherein the portion of thehousing engaged by the seal constitutes an intake duct, and wherein adischarge duct extends through the intake duct and is located in spacedrelation to the walls of the intake duct.

10. A vent construction according to claim 9 wherein two baflies aremounted on the intake duct in spaced relation with respect to oneanother and with respect to the end of the vent housing, wherein thedischarge duct opens outwardly through the innermost baflle whereby theflue gases discharged therefrom will escape between the baflles, andwherein the opening between the innermost baffle and the end of theintake duct communicates with the interior of the intake duct.

11. A vent construction according to claim 10 wherein the outermostbaflle comprises a pair of spaced plates, one of which is exposed to thegases discharged from the discharge duct through the innermost baflle,and the other of which is exposed outwardly and forms one of the outersurfaces on the vent housing.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,755,794 7/1956 Wendell 9832 X3,052,230 9/1962 Conrad 9862 X 3,105,432 10/1963 Chamberlain 98623,410,193 11/1968 Clark 9832 WILLIAM J. WYE, Primary Examiner US. Cl.X.R. 9862

